Users looking to abuse Apple’s new 14-day return policy for digital purchases in Europe will be in for a bad surprise, as the company has apparently been taking measures against those that want to dishonestly take advantage of the system.

According to one account from a user who had been abusing the return policy by downloading a dozen apps and requesting refunds after “trialing” them, Apple quickly caught up to the scheme and is now warning him he won’t be eligible for refunds for newly purchased applications.

One reader explains that when Apple introduced the new 14-day return policy, he started treating this policy as a trial period of some sort. After spending about $40 in various apps to trial, he was able to get $25 refunded, but Apple took notice of his behavior and a message popping up in the App Store now warns him that he will no longer be eligible for refunds on new purchases.

More specifically, the message asks for the user to acknowledge he’s giving up his right to a refund every time he wants to buy a new application: “I acknowledge that if I download this app within fourteen days of tapping ‘Buy”, I will no longer be eligible to cancel this purchase.” At that point, the user can cancel or confirm by tapping the Buy button.

The return policy for the UK specifically mentions the following, showing that Apple did foresee such a scenario:

Exception to the right of cancellation: You cannot cancel your order for the supply of digital content if the delivery has started upon your request and acknowledgement that you thereby lose your cancellation right.

Of course, abusing the return policy for unscrupulous use of apps or other digital content at no cost is a questionable practice that we do not approve of.